neXtDRAFT 31. Opportunities or Obstacles?

Published: Thu, 07/26/18

Hello and welcome to neXtDRAFT 32. Opportunities and Obstacles.

When it’s been flooding rain for a month, sometimes it’s hard to see the opportunity. But they always exist. If you look in the photo above you’ll see a man crouching down in front of a big puddle of water. Do you know what he is doing?

This man is using his ingenuity outside a great big shopping centre. He’d grabbed a couple of pieces of timber and a few bits of concrete rubble to form a makeshift walkway, and is charging 1 peso to pass over the smelly flood water that blocked every entrance to the shopping centre. He was more than happy to include a photo for an extra 4 pesos.

Another hidden blessing in the flood was Jerry's older brother Ryan and his family who stayed with us for five days digging trenches and helping to install guttering. Jerry had a lovely time playing with his 3 year old neice Sky. And Ryan was able to earn enough money to pay for his Driver's Licence renewal.

Yes, for the past month it has rained incessantly: the house has flooded 3 times and Jerry and I have evacuated it once. And I’ve been quiet on the blog and neXtDRAFT, not because things are hard and I’ve been just too busy, but because I’m determined to stop focusing on obstacles and write about inspiring stuff instead of my latest drama or ailment.

When one of my cousins emailed me after the last edition of neXtDRAFT with …

Oh Mel, I never know what will be delivered in the next draft….. My prayers are with you all… I hope you find the right place you need to live and work in well. All my love Linden xxx

It really got me thinking. Do I want to be writing every week that … life is hard … life is challenging … I’m doing it tough … ? Are these the messages I went to send to people, and even more importantly … affirm to myself?

No.

So for the last two weeks I’ve been deliberately blog-quiet, waiting for inspiration: finally finding it while paying 5 pesos to walk on a lump of wood over a flooded gutter. Opportunity, it’s everywhere. Even in floods.

So next week (no matter what calamity may have befallen us between now and then) I'm determined to get neXtDRAFT back to my original vision -- to celebrate the art, music, poetry and writing in my life (and in everyone's).

Till next week.

Mel xx

Sincerely,

Melinda J. Irvine

[email protected]

Jerry was excited to help with the flood control efforts.

old concrete mossed green tiny white flowers

Our helper Julie scrubbed the smelly water out of Jerry's room, only to have it flood 2 more times. We're just leaving it now for a while.

Jerry's brother's family + another friend of ours stayed with us for 5 days helping to floodproof the house. It poured rain the whole time and finally (exhausted) they went back to Estancia. We piled all the bedding into one small corner near the TV and all slept there. You can see Maxine and the kittens in the background who I placed on top of the mini-tramp in a laundry tub.

1899-1900-Tasmania-Pictorials-Recess-Perf-14-WMK-TAS-Complete-Set-of-8-Mint
1899-1900-Tasmania-Pictorials-Recess-Perf-14-WMK-TAS-Complete-Set-of-8-Mint Have one to sell? Sell it yourself 1899-1900 Tasmania Pictorials Recess Perf 14 WMK ‘TAS’ Complete Set of 8 Mint

1899-1900-Tasmania-Pictorials (Complete-Set-of-8 in mint condition)

Stamp News (with Uncle Richard)

NEW LISTINGS: Tasmanian Stamps

Formerly Van Diemen’s Land, Tasmania became an independent colony in 1853 when its first postage stamps were issued. Only this week we've listed 4 x new stamps including ...

Queen Victoria Chalon Head in orange (perforate stamps) first issued in 1864.
Queen Victoria Chalon Head in blue. Interestingly, the blue stamp still has ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ while the 1/- Orange has ‘Tasmania.’
The 1899-1900 Pictorials complete set (mint condition) of Tasmania views is very nice. I could find no other mint sets on eBay when I looked.
The Fiscal Stamps are interesting also; the 1900 1d Blue Platypus is overprinted REVENUE to show that it could only be used for fiscal (and not postage) purposes.

PS: Stamps for the Visayans is a project of my Uncle Richard. In 2014 he inherited the family stamp collection which dates back 3 generations. He sells the stamps individually on eBay and sends the proceeds to help me live in the Philippines with Jerry (as well as run small projects for other disadvantaged children). It's incredible how these $5, $10 and $20 stamp sales (plus the odd big one) add up and make our life here possible.

1900 Tasmania 1d Blue Platypus Fiscal

1870 3k Red Cancelled 29 JAN 1871 SG69

1864-80 Tasmania QV Chalon Head 4d Blue WMK ‘4’

Book Review: The Nine Lives of Dudley Dog

My ESL (english second language) adopted son Jerry and I both loved this fun and curious tale about a naughty dog, birthday wishes and a mix-up at the pet store. When dog named Dudley pops out of the birthday gift box instead of the cat sister wished for, Dudley get’s the message quick – that he’s not wanted. He abandons the startled party and jumps out the window to chase cats.

Check out my 5 star review on the blog or Goodreads.

(above) Maxine and the kittens sit in the drying house. Leaving Maxine in the kittens alone inside a house with rising floodwaters made me realise it was time to find her and the kittens a new home. I cried for a full hour last week after bundling the 4 little kittens and her into a carry crate. Jerry's brother Ryan and his sister-in-law and another friend have taken the cats. Of course Jerry and I miss them terribly, but it was so stressful for the cats (as well as us) in the floods, but we know they will be much better off in their new homes.

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From the Vault: June 2017

Jerry's brother didn't get to go to school

The First Boy in His Family to Finish School

Child labour is work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. In the Philippines, there are 2.1 million child labourers aged 5-17 years. About 95% of them are in hazardous work.

Like the other 2.1 million+ Filipino kids already working, Jerry’s brother’s and sisters are all part of these statistics, and this would have been his fate also.

This blog from last year introduces another of Jerry's brothers and the opportunities denied to him as a child. I'm so proud of Jerry making the most of his new life in the city and his attitude towards his new school.